Is a Mormon a Christian? No, a Mormon is not a Christian because Mormonism denies essential Christian doctrines. But does this mean a Mormon can’t hold political office, or that a Christian shouldn’t vote for a someone simply because he or she is a Mormon? Not at all.
First of all, consider what Mormonism teaches. These doctrines are taught by official Mormon writers and contradict biblical truth.
- There are many gods throughout the universe, (Mormon Doctrine, by Bruce R. McConkie, p. 163, McConkie was very high up in the Mormon church and was one of its 12 apostles).
- There is a mother goddess (the wife of Elohim, a man who became a god), (Articles of Faith, by James Talmage, p. 443).
- God used to be a man on another planet, (Mormon Doctrine, p. 321).
- After you become a good Mormon, you have the potential of becoming a god, (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, pages 345-347, 354; Joseph Smith is the founder of Mormonism).
- God resides near a star called Kolob, Pearl of Great Price, pages 34-35; Mormon Doctrine, p. 428. The Pearl of Great Price is official Mormon scripture).
- The Trinity is three separate gods, (James Talmage, Articles of Faith, p. 35).
- God is increasing in knowledge, (Joseph Smith, Journal of Discourses, Vol. 6, p. 120).
- God has the form of a man, (Joseph Smith, Journal of Discourses, Vol. 6, p. 3).
It is precisely because of such teachings that Mormonism is considered to be non-Christian. Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints say they believe in Jesus and are Christians, but the Jesus they believe in is a deviation from the truth, an invention, and is not the one of the Bible. In Mormonism, Jesus is the brother of the devil, and you and I, begotten via sexual intercourse between God and his goddess wife. That is definitely not biblical teaching. Joseph Smith, the founder of Mormonism, said that God appeared to him and told him that all religions were false; and that he was to restore the true gospel. What followed was the Mormon version of Christianity; only, it isn’t Christian. Basically, it teaches that if you become a good Mormon, pay a full 10% tithe of your income to the Mormon church, you then get a Temple recommend. This recommend allows a faithful Mormon to enter into one of the LDS Temples located throughout the world. Inside the Temple, the Mormon is exposed to “sacred and secret” rituals while they wear special undergarments and learn secret handshakes (among other things). All of this is to help them in the afterlife so that they can become gods and goddesses of their own worlds. That is simply not what the Bible teaches.
In contradiction to all of this, Christianity teaches that there is only one God, and that God was never a man on another planet (Psalm 90:2). It teaches that God does not even know of any other gods (Isaiah 44:8) and that God is the only God (Isaiah 45:5). There are many other things about Mormonism that are not biblical, such as their doctrine of salvation, atonement, etc. But we won’t get into that in this short article (see related articles below for more information). There are a host of books that compare Mormonism with biblical theology, and a plethora of ministries designed to reach the lost Mormons with the gospel. You should check these out for yourself.
So, is Mormonism Christian? No, it’s not.
What about a true Christian voting for a Mormon? Is that okay?
There are many Christians who may disagree with me and may automatically say that we should never vote for a Mormon–simply because he or she is a Mormon. This is called the Genetic Fallacy–an error in thinking that says because someone is a Mormon, he can’t hold a political office. Though Mormons are not true Christians, the issue is whether or not they would remain faithful to the Constitution of the United States, the charge of their office, uphold moral values, and not put loyalty to their church first.
As Christians, we are to balance our conviction of moral truth and biblical fidelity when we vote. The issue of who to vote for among a crowd of less-than-stellar-candidates is complicated. Each person must vote to the best of his/her ability and according to his conscience. Hopefully, people will vote for a person who will uphold the Constitution, protect our civil rights, and promote the welfare of society and the family without supporting abortion, homosexuality, and liberalism. The issue is more than a simple, “I won’t vote for a Mormon,” or “I won’t vote for a Catholic” (i.e., John F. Kennedy).
Furthermore, the higher up the office is, the more important the issues become. If a Mormon were to become President, it would be used by Mormons everywhere to promote the LDS Church. This would be spiritually bad. But, on the other hand, it would also mean that the strange doctrines of the LDS Church would be more readily exposed when people learn what Mormonism teaches, i.e., god coming from another planet, a goddess wife, becoming gods, Jesus and Satan are brothers, secret handshakes for exaltation to godhood, etc. In fact, at the time of writing this article, the traffic to CARM has increased 33%; and part of it is due to the inquiries people are making about Mormonism.
So, who should Christians vote for? It depends. Personally, I would vote for an atheist over a “Christian” if the former would uphold the Constitution and the latter did not, just as I would vote for someone who was Mormon and uphold the Constitution over someone else who would not. So, Mormons are not Christian, but that doesn’t mean a Christian can’t vote for one.
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